Jeremy Wariner’s quest to become only the second two-time Olympic 400m champion began this morning without a hitch.

Running in the outside lane, the two-time World champion cruised to a 45.23 victory in the last of seven heats to easily advance to romorrow’s (19) semi-finals.

Two races earlier his chief challenger for Olympic gold, fellow American LaShawn Merritt, shook out the early morning cobwebs with a 44.96 victory, more than 0.20 seconds ahead of the chase pack led by Nigerian Saul Weigopwa (45.19).

“I ran a smart, easy race,” said Merritt, who defeated Wariner twice this season, including at the U.S. Trials.

The fastest heat was the second, with a blanket finish producing four sub-44.90 clockings. Underscoring his solid podium potential was Chris Brown of The Bahamas who cruised to a 44.79 victory, just a tick ahead of Australian Joel Milburn, who impressed with a 44.80 career best, a 0.19 second improvement for the 22-year-old.

“It seems that every time I’m here to race these guys in the first round, they bring their best,” said Brown, who lowered his career best and national record to 44.40 this year.

Swede Johan Wissman, a World championships finalist a year ago, was next in 44.81, also a season’s best, with African record holder Gary Kikaya fourth in 44.89, also a season’s best.

Britons Martyn Rooney and Andrew Steele, who are sharing a room here in Beijing, won the fourth and sixth heats respectively. Particularly impressive was the run by the 23-year-old Steele, whose 44.94 was his first jaunt into sub-45 territory, and a huge improvement from his previous 45.31 career best. Rooney, already a sub-45 man at 44.72, won handily in 45.00 ahead of Australian Sean Wroe, who lowered his personal best to 45.17 to finish second.

Behind Steele, Trinidad’s Renny Quow (45.13) and Bahamian Michael Mathieu (45.17) also advanced.

Frenchman Leslie Djhone got Day 4 rolling in the first race of the morning, crossing the line in 45.12 ahead of American David Neville (45.22). Dhjone took the win despite not being particularly fond of mornings. Said the Frenchman: “The race was too early. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep. I almost fell asleep during the warm-up.”

Heat 3 went to Costa Rican national record holder Nery Brenes in 45.39, ahead of Nigerian James Godday (45.49) and Bahamian Andretti Bain (45.96), the NCAA champion.

The morning’s major casualty was Canadian Tyler Christopher, who captured the World Indoor title five months ago. Well back midway through the final bend, he continued to lose ground down the homestretch and finished a well-beaten fourth in Heat 6, clocking 45.67. Ahead of him was Jamaican Michael Blackwood, a 2004 finalist, whose 45.56 was the second fastest among non-qualifiers.

Alleyne Francique of Grenada, a two-time World Indoor champion, also exited early after a sixth place showing in the opening round, clocking just 46.15.

Bob Ramsak for the IAAF